I watched this after watching a particularly good finale for another show, and I thought I was doing a disservice to The Originals. I thought that it might pale in comparison or that it somehow would seem less than. One day I will learn to stop wasting time worrying if TBTB know what they're doing. This show knows how to do a season finale.

Kol and Elijah both getting bit before the first commercial break did two things. Dropped my jaw so forcefully to the floor that I am sure to suffer some kind of TMJ for the rest of my life and made sure the audience truly understood just how dangerous Marcel now is. He doesn't have to be stronger, even though he is. He doesn't have to be smarter. He doesn't have to be scarier or angrier or even have righteous indignation on his side. He only needs to get close enough to take a little nibble.

I know I'm supposed to feel badly for Marcel. Supposed to empathize with the fact that he's been pushed around, pushed down and ultimately killed by the Mikaelsons. The flashbacks and his tiresome monologues were supposed to make that happen. I just can't. It's a parallel to what is happening on the screen, too. Elijah wouldn't have ripped out Rebekah's heart if she had become powerful enough to kill an Original. He wouldn't have killed Kol or Hayley. As much as he loved Marcel, Marcel was never as much a part of the family as everyone else. The only time he was on my good side through this tantrum he's throwing was when he promised that killing Rebekah wasn't part of his plan, and even that was mildly irritating since he'd just made a grand point of saying that going after one Mikaelson meant taking on them all. But, okay. Que sera, sera. He's always gotten points for loving Davina, though.

I rather enjoyed being in on the plan. Usually we're in the dark until the last possible second. This time we knew from the jump that Freya had a plan and that Klaus needed to stay alive and Rebekah needed to stay sane for it to work. It was fun seeing the two of them manipulate the trial in order to keep Klaus alive, no matter the cost. Klaus has been struggling for a while now to be a gentler version of himself for his daughter. Admirable, but his journey has been anything but smooth. He takes one step forward, two steps back, twirls around, falls down, gets up confused, kills a few people and has had to start all over again more times than little Hope's life has been threatened. He finally found his way in terms of what family first is supposed to mean. He sacrificed in every way possible. The reputation that he proudly pillaged and plundered his way to was destroyed when everyone that feared him the most was allowed to watch him be taken down. He is all alone, imprisoned in the wall of his former home, without his beloved siblings, friends or daughter. And we all know how much Klaus hates being alone. His daughter will be growing up without him and her safety is completely out of his control. Wow. Rebekah's thankful tears were more than justified. Klaus has always been a guy that could justify sacrificing the many for the needs of the few. It's been his downfall for as long as we've known him, but not anymore. Cami would be so proud.

This is me trying to be okay with Rebekah as a part-time character: When Rebekah shows up it always makes sense. She is the only one that had a chance at getting Marcel to take a step back. It was smart of Hayley to pull that antique steak knife out of her hexed bestie and send her into the middle of a death match.

There were so many beautifully acted goodbyes that I was cringing. Klaus telling Elijah that he couldn't keep everyone safe without his brother. Elijah pleading with Hayley not to mourn him and Hayley assuring him that him making her happy really happened. Klaus even apologized to Hayley for taking Hope away from her. I thought these moments of grace were preparing us to lose someone, but it turned out kind of okay for everyone. Well, as okay as it could have, I guess. As suspected, Haylijah has been pulled back apart, but no one is dead or betrothed to someone else so I consider it a win. Klaus will be suffering for the foreseeable future, but he isn't dead and has probably secured another century or so of loyalty from his family.

The real kicker here was not that the home team won, but how they won. Put simply, they didn't. We've basically put a pin in this fight until Hayley can find cures for the rest of them. And I, for one, am already anxiously awaiting the return. So far season three left a lot to be desired. Aurora, Tristan, the Strix, Lucien - none of it ever clicked for me and I found myself getting bored while I waited for the characters I cared about to interact with each other and stop flitting around with the newbies. So I'm hopeful that when TO comes back I'll get to see more of the interpersonal chaos and magic that makes me love watching these varying degrees of lunatics.

4 out of 4 siblings tethered to the life force of another. It might be 5 out of 4. This was a really well done finale, and a really, really well done way of showing Klaus' growth.

Bites and pieces

According to Julie Plec's blog post, Hope was supposed to do magic on her way out of town, but the baby actress fell asleep so they couldn't make it work. This makes me irrationally annoyed at this baby. I want to see Hope do magic again.

Klaus' crimes were a lot about forcing people to kill their families. I wonder what Freud would say about that.

Papa Tunde's knife of unending torment still hasn't been destroyed and I still don't understand why that wasn't a priority.

We know from The Vampire Diaries that in two years Klaus still won't be back to running New Orleans. Is he still behind the bricks? Has Hayley found cures for anyone yet? Are they all alive and well and on vacation at the Grand Canyon?

I can't decide who the bigger cosmic joke is on. Marcel for pissing off maybe the most powerful witch left in NOLA or Vincent for giving supervamp powers to an unstable egomaniac with daddy issues.

Two years is a long time to be staring at your three siblings in a garden. I hope Freya had time to stock the place with board games and booze.

The picture options for this episode sucked. Pun intended.

I very much thought that Elijah was going to sacrifice himself in exchange for his siblings to live. I am so glad to be wrong. Klaus being the one to make the sacrifice was an unbelievably well done surprise. Especially since it isn't a permanent end. Although, unending torture is bound to take some kind of toll.

Freya: "I'm bitten, Rebekah is hexed and our brothers are bitten. We need three different cures to three different ailments, each of which could take years to find and none of us will make it through the day."

Rebekah: "I've only got a short while before I go mad. So your explanation better be quick and it better be good."

Kol: "I'm going to die."
Klaus: "You're not going to die."
Kol: "That sounds familiar. Isn't that what you said to Finn and Cami?"
Ouch.

Freya: "There may be a way to save them."
Klaus: "Then I will move the world to make it so."

Marcel: "Klaus Mikaelson, sire to a thousand years of angry faces. How does it feel to be this hated?"

Elijah: "I saw you. I had a dream and you were... I was holding you. You seemed happy."
Hayley: "It wasn't a dream."

Marcel: "For Davina, Diego, Thierry, Gia, Cami and the boy I used to be. The boy you once called your son."

Vincent: "Anybody can come. I don't care if they're a human. I don't care if they're a witch. I don't care if they're a vampire. As long as they are sick and tired of the same old, same old that you and your pathetic family are 'always and forevering' about."

My dearest Hope,

I do not know how this will find you. As a child full of wonder, a teenager full of opinions or a woman with the world at her feet. I write to tell you that I love you and to explain that in our family's darkest hour, I was called upon to save my siblings and so I did.
Please do not mourn me. Whatever pain I endure, I do so in service of those I love. My sole regret is that I will be away from you.
Be good to your mother. I draw comfort knowing that she will protect you, and I know she will not rest until our family is united. Until then, my sacrifice will allow you to grow. To become the beautiful daughter that I can now only imagine. Please remember that you are the legacy that this family has always desired. The promise he fought to protect. You are, and always will be, our hope.

2 comments:

Wow. That was some ending. And it even made sense. Klaus has changed, he sacrificed himself for his family big time. He really did owe it to them, but I think the difference is, he *knew* he owed it to them and he went through with it.

I was surprised that Kol made it through the season. I hope he's a cast member next fall. Or winter, or whenever season four premieres. Did acquiring Supergirl force the CW to postpone The Originals until mid-season?